Midnight's Shadow
by tantei no hime
Summary: Lovino Vargas never expected anything out of the ordinary when he and his brother accepted the scholarship to W Academy. Too bad he gets involved in the school life of mutual killing. Dangan Ronpa fusion fic.
1. Chapter 1: Charing Cross

A Kink Meme De-Anon for the request "Ensemble, Dangan Ronpa AU This would probably work best in a Gakuen AU. A group of fifteen nations are locked in their school and are forced to play a killing game in order to leave. Bonus points if Allies and Axis are not all involved; one from each group would be A++." Still ongoing over there, though, so hush and don't tell OP.

**Setting: **Dangan Ronpa AU

**Rating: **T

**Genre: **Mystery, Friendship

**Characters: **[DATA EXPUNGED]

**Word Count: **326

**Warnings for language, outrageous death traps, your favourite nation possibly dying before this fic ends, furry animal friends becoming psycho bloodthirsty robots, dark humour, and references to Greek Mythology. If you're disturbed by any of those, just, um, turn on a mental bleep or something.**

* * *

**Midnight's Shadow**

_**Chapter 1: Charing Cross**_

_"As I was going by Charing Cross,  
I saw a black man upon a black horse;  
They told me it was King Charles the First-  
Oh dear, my heart was ready to burst!"_

W Academy. An exclusive school for the gifted elite. Only the best of the best could enter it. They say that graduating from this school guarantees a successful future.

There were three things on Lovino Vargas' mind as he approached the academy's gates. One: he didn't belong there. Two: the place was _huge_. And three: except for him and his annoying brother Feliciano, there was no one else around the campus.

If everything had only gone as planned, Lovino wouldn't have been attending this place. He would've been enrolled at the Scuola along with his friends, and Feli would've gone to W Academy alone.

But no, fate just _had_ to be a bitch, and he just _had_ to be selected at the lucky raffle.

Well, whoever said life is fair? So much for a life without the shadow of his brother's genius.

"Ve~ Fratello, are we late already? Why aren't there any people around?" Feliciano suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"If we're late, then it's your fault. You were the one who took his sweet time getting ready," Lovino snapped. It wouldn't be any good if they were late.

"But Fratello," Feliciano whined, "I only wanted to say goodbye to Nonno and Carlino properly. We wouldn't be seeing them until the end of term, you know."

"Fine, fine. Stop whining and let's just get in," Lovino sighed.

With that settled, the Vargas brothers took their first step into W Academy.

It should've been an exhilarating moment.

But the minute they stepped in the Academy, something inexplicable happened.

And then, there was darkness.

That was when their ordinary lives ended.

It was then that Lovino realised that he was not "Super High School Level Good Luck".

He was "Super High School Level Bad Luck."


	2. Chapter Two: Come Out to Play

**Word Count: **706

* * *

_**Chapter Two: Come Out to Play**_

_"Girls and boys, come out to play,  
The moon doth shine as bright as day;  
Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,  
And come with your playfellows into the street.  
Come with a whoop, come with a call,  
Come with a good will or not at all.  
Up the ladder and down the wall,  
A halfpenny roll will serve us all.  
You find milk, and I'll find flour,  
And we'll have a pudding in half an hour."_

Lovino's first thought when he woke up in a deserted classroom was to run away quickly and never look back. But that was when he noticed that the door was closed and the windows were bolted shut. There goes his escape plan.

Nerves of steel never did run in his family. If he knew his brother well, Feliciano was probably—

Wait. Shit. Where was Feli?

Escape plans be damned. He needed to find his fratellino.

* * *

Relief washed over Lovino when he found the door unlocked. At least he could get out of this infernal classroom.

"Fratello!"

Lovino nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his brother's voice.

"Feliciano! Are you alright? What happened?" Lovino asked. Feliciano could be irritating at times, but he's still Lovino's brother, damn it.

"I don't know. I just panicked when I woke up in a classroom and you weren't there," Feliciano whined, with all the outrageous hand gestures of a flustered member of the Vargas family.

_DING-DONG-DING_

_"Attention. All new students of W Academy are requested to proceed to the gymnasium immediately for the opening ceremony. Slackers will be appropriately punished. Thank you."_

The brothers looked at each other after the announcement was finished.

"What do you think, Fratello? Should we go?"

"Well, do we even have a choice?"

Obviously none.

* * *

When the brothers entered the gymnasium, there were already fourteen other students waiting. None of them looked any older than Lovino. And by the looks on their faces, none of them knew what the hell was going on.

One of them was sleeping; a cat perched on his head. Beside the guy was a grumpy blond with humongous eyebrows.

Two blond boys, obviously the youngest among all those present, were talking to each other in the far side of the room. By their identical looks, Lovino guessed they were twins.

Lovino only had time to sit down before a large robotic animal entered the room and addressed them.

"Good morning, you bastards, and welcome to W Academy. Now, someone please wake up Mr Karpusi before I begin."

The grumpy blond tapped the sleeping person beside him, and when that person woke up, the amused robot continued.

"As I was saying, welcome to W Academy. My name is Mr Alphachrome, but you could address me as Alpha. I am your headmaster, and today I will be telling you what you should expect on your indefinite stay in this place."

"What animal are you supposed to be, Mr Alphachrome? Are you a llama?" some idiot from the back row who just couldn't keep his mouth shut asked.

"No, Mr Fernandez, I am an alpaca. Interrupting me and referring to me as a llama are both punishable offences, but since this is your first day, I'll let it slide."

"Now, as you might have guessed, there is no way out of this school. You could choose to stay here in relatively mutual peace forever, or you could opt for a graduation."

"How so?"

"Strike two, Mr Fernandez! You don't want to know what happens at three. But I'm glad you asked. Graduating from W Academy is simple. You have to kill your classmate, and the others must not find it out."

"Isn't mutual killing fun? Way better than those boring classroom lectures? I thought you'd enjoy it. But before I leave you to party, I'll give you your Electronic Student ID cards. It contains all basic information about you, as well as W Academy's rules. Remember to read through them before you go a-plotting your murders~! Oh, and by the way, students are only allowed to sleep at their dorm rooms."

And with that, the alpaca-shaped robot strutted out of the room.

What the fuck was going on?

* * *

Ahaha. Yes, it's Hima-papa's alpaca. In the words of my wise friend Gill, "Alpacas are neutral. You never know who's behind it. For all we know, it could even be Himaruya."

Also, I asked another friend if the number of students was stretching it, but she shrugged it off, saying that "SDR2 starts with 16 students, it's fine."


	3. Chapter 3: Ring a Ring o' Roses

**Word Count: **1,267

* * *

**_Chapter 3: Ring a Ring o' Roses_**

_"Ring-a-ring o' roses,  
A pocket full of posies,  
Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush!  
We've all tumbled down."_

**Despair Hotel  
2nd day  
7.00 am**

_"Good morning, you bastards! Let's all strive to do our best today."_

The announcement woke Lovino up with a start, and he almost fell from the bunk bed he was sleeping on. On the lower bed, Feliciano could still be heard snoring.

As he looked around him, Lovino realised that, nope, everything that happened yesterday wasn't just some nightmare brought about by drinking too much tomato juice. He really was stuck at W Academy, forced to participate in a killing game with his own brother and their classmates.

What kind of a sick bastard would do that?

Lovino sighed as he climbed down from the bed to wake his brother up.

"Oi, Feli! Wake up!" Lovino said with a sharp rap on the bed post.

"Eh? But Fratello, isn't it our summer break?" Feliciano yawned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Sorry to disappoint, but did you forget what happened yesterday?"

"You mean it wasn't just a nightmare?"

Lovino merely avoided his brother's gaze.

"Don't worry, Fratello, I'm sure someone will save us!" Feliciano said with a smile.

Trust Feliciano to be the eternal optimist.

* * *

**Cafeteria**

There are three kinds of high school students in the world.

There are the punctual, by-the-book students, like the grumpy blond.

There are the perpetually late students late students, like Feliciano and Lovino.

And there are those that don't care about the time at all, like the guy with the cat.

"All right, everyone! Since we're all going to be stuck here for a long time, why don't we introduce ourselves?" a blond guy with slicked-back hair said.

Looks like this guy's used to being in charge. And why is this school full of blond boys, anyway?

"I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt, SHSL Strategist," the blond continued.

Ah. So that's why he looks familiar. The SHSL Strategist, the boy who's all about discipline. Only someone like him could manage to manipulate his way through every war game and come out as the victor.

So how did Lovino find out about all of this? Simple. The night before he went to W Academy, Lovino joined a discussion post online, and researched on his would-be classmates. He'd deny that to the grave, though.

"Ve~ I'm Feliciano Vargas, SHSL Artist, and this is my brother Lovino, SHSL Good Luck."

Then there's his brother. Oh boy, where to even begin? Consistently winning every art competition he has joined since he was three, there was no wonder he was their grandfather's favourite. Let's not even mention all the money he brings whenever one of his paintings is auctioned off.

"Hey! Alfred F. Jones here. SHSL Hero, and this is my twin brother, Matthew Williams."

Alfred F. Jones. Everyone in the discussion post thinks that Hero isn't his real title, but Heir, since it was he and his brother who stood to inherit their father's vast fortunes. Lovino couldn't care less.

"If you guys are twins, then why do you have different surnames?" a brunette wearing a flower on her hair asked.

The twins exchanged a glance before answering.

"We'd much rather not talk about it."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm Erzsébet Héderváry, SHSL Photojournalist."

Lovino would rather not talk about the subjects of her photographs, thank you very much.

"Roderich Edelstein, SHSL Pianist," the aristocratic-looking boy beside Erzsébet said.

Lovino's seen people in the post comparing this boy to Mozart. And in fact, that pretty much explains how Edelstein's career started.

"Basch Zwingli. SHSL Sharpshooter."

Apparently, this guy started to practice his gun-slinging when some unlucky bastard threatened his sister. Best to stay away from him if you value your life.

"I'm Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, SHSL Chef. By the way, I like tomatoes."

SHSL Chef, huh? According to the post, this guy world-famous for his delicious renditions of tomato-based dishes. One of these days, Lovino's going to find that out himself.

"Mon ami, I think that part was unnecessary. Francis Bonnefoy, SHSL Connoisseur. And sourcils over there is Arthur Kirkland, SHSL Sorcerer. Or at least, that's what he claims."

"Rubbish. Magic is more real than your pretentious stubble, you frog."

Lovino honestly didn't want to know what connoisseur means.

As for Arthur, they say that he was from a long line of powerful wizards. Not that Lovino believes in any of that.

"My name is Honda Kiku, SHSL Mangaka. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

So this was the guy those girls were fawning over? Now that Lovino remembers it, he has seen the name on some of the things Carlino reads.

"Ah, is it my turn already? I am Herakles Karpusi, SHSL Philosopher."

Hailing from the land of great thinkers, Herakles Karpusi may seem like he's no threat, but his ideas are at par with those of the ones before him.

"Eduard von Bock. SHSL Programmer."

Lovino's so-called research told him that von Bock has already designed several programmes for big-time companies, though someone in the post claimed that von Bock was actually a genius hacker in his spare time.

"Hey, I'm Im Yong Soo, SHSL Inventor."

Yong Soo was a great inventor, but he had a nasty habit of claiming that he invented everything in sight.

"Wang Yao, SHSL Merchant."

According to reports, Yao has made a fortune out of buying, selling, and haggling. Apparently his motto was "You name it, I have it."

"Is that everyone, then? So did anyone find out anything yesterday?" Ludwig asked.

"All the exits are replaced with steel doors and couldn't be broken. It's the same with the windows," Alfred sighed.

"The kitchen's stocked with all kinds of ingredients," Feliciano chirped.

"But with sixteen of us here, wouldn't that run out sooner or later?" Antonio asked.

"Mr. Alpha said he'd restock it every week, so it's fine."

"What I really want to know right now is how they managed to haul us away from W Academy and dump us here," Francis said.

"Um, about that, I have a floor plan of the school and this place follows it to the letter, which means that whoever they are, they managed to take over W Academy and lock us up," Matthew revealed.

Everyone else groaned.

_DING-DONG-DING_

_"I see you slackers are enjoying yourselves, but how about you break that up for a while and go back to the gymnasium for my new announcement?"_

* * *

**Gymnasium**

"Took you a while to get here," Alphachrome yawned. He was sitting on a reclining chair near the podium, but as soon as the students arrived, he stood up on all fours.

"Why'd you summon us here?" Arthur demanded.

"Jeez, Kirkland, that hotheadedness of yours will be your downfall someday," Alphachrome sneered.

"Well, since you've asked, I summoned you guys here because I was getting bored waiting for a murder to happen. So I decided to give you guys an incentive," the alpaca continued.

"Incentive?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, Williams, an incentive! Don't you have anything better to do than repeating everything I say?" Alphachrome snapped impatiently.

"So, are you ready?"

The alpaca snapped, which was quite impossible for such a creature, and as he did, something fell from the ceiling.

"Ten billion bucks! I'm giving all of it to a student who successfully graduates! I bet some of you can't wait to graduate, huh?"

"What do you think you're doing, buying us with money?" Francis said.

"Whatever you do, there's no way we're going to kill for that!" Feliciano screamed.

"Well, we'll see about that. Upupu~"

**End second day  
Students remaining: 16**


	4. Chapter Four: Black Sheep

**Word Count: **479

* * *

_**Chapter Four: Black Sheep**_

_"Baa, baa, black sheep,_  
_Have you any wool?_  
_Yes, sir, yes, sir,_  
_Three bags full;_  
_One for the master,_  
_And one for the dame,_  
_And one for the little boy_  
_Who lives down the lane."_

"Merda! I'll go insane if I stay here for another minute!" Lovino screamed as he got up from his bed.

"Fratello, you're not going to... kill someone for that, right?" Feliciano peeked from his own bed.

"I didn't mean this hellhole, I meant this room, you idiot!"

"But wouldn't it be dangerous to go out of our rooms when it's almost Night Time? I mean, isn't that the reason why we made that rule in the first place?"

_ "I have a proposal to make," Ludwig announced as they finished eating dinner._

_ "And what would that be?" Lovino didn't bother looking up to see who raised the question._

_ "We should add our own rule to this book. See this one about Night Time? Maybe we should all agree not to leave our rooms during Night Time so none of us will be a danger to ourselves and to others?"_

"Fine. Suit yourself, then," Lovino said with a smirk.

"Fine."

The door closed after Lovino with a loud thud.

* * *

Lovino was just a few paces from their dorm room when he realised that his brother was right. This place really was creepy at night. Not to mention he keeps hearing those footsteps in the background.

Wait a minute.

Footsteps?

Nervously, Lovino turned around to see who was making the sound.

And then he screamed.

"Jesus, Vargas, calm down! It's only me!"

"Eh?"

Lovino blinked.

Before him stood one of the twins, exactly which one he was unsure of.

"I know that look, Vargas. It's Alfred."

"I wasn't going to ask that," Lovino defended himself. "I was going to ask what the hell you're doing out at this hour."

"Matt kicked me out of our room. Said I was distracting him from reading his book. You?"

"I was getting bored staring at the ceiling."

"Want to hang out, then?"

"Sure, why the hell not?"

Thus started a friendship, which in other circumstances, would've been implausible.

* * *

"So, how did you get here again?" Alfred asked after a few minutes of _very _awkward silence.

"…I won a raffle," was Lovino's reply.

"You're kidding. Right?"

"No."

Another silence. Each of them is probably thinking of an appropriate topic.

"Your brother seems nice," Alfred finally said.

"He is. Yours seems nice, too." Lovino couldn't help but smile.

"You don't know my brother," Alfred said with a strange gleam in his eyes. "You wouldn't want him constantly on your back."

"Why, what's wrong with him?" Lovino asked.

"I didn't say there was something wrong with him. It's just that he's a little weird that he can't make friends."

Lovino shook it off as a case of brotherly rivalry.


	5. Chapter 5: Roud 19526

******Word Count********: **750

* * *

_******Dramatis Personae**_

Lovino Vargas, 17 years old, SHSL Good Luck  
Feliciano Vargas, 16 years old  
Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, 17 years old  
Matthew Williams, 15 years old  
Alfred F. Jones, 15 years old  
Eduard von Bock, 16 years old  
Herakles Karpusi, 17 years old  
Arthur Kirkland, 17 years old  
Basch Zwingli, 17 years old  
Honda Kiku, 16 years old  
Roderich Edelstein, 17 years old  
Wang Yao, 17 years old  
Francis Bonnefoy, 17 years old  
Erzsébet Héderváry, 17 years old  
Im Yong Soo, 15 years old  
Ludwig Beilschmidt, 16 years old

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Roud #19526**_

_"Monday's child is fair of face,_  
_Tuesday's child is full of grace,_  
_Wednesday's child is full of woe,_  
_Thursday's child has far to go,_  
_Friday's child is loving and giving,_  
_Saturday's child works hard for a living,_  
_But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day_  
_Is bonny and blithe and good and gay."_

_"Good morning, you bastards! Let's all strive to do our best today."_

Lovino couldn't help but think that the announcement was pre-recorded. After all, it _was _the same exact words every single damn time. Still, he'd better get used to it if he was damned to live here for the rest of his life.

When he arrived at the cafeteria, most of the other students were already there. Williams was already arguing with Alfred, who beamed when he saw Lovino enter.

"Hey, Vargas!"

Lovino had a choice to run and pretend he didn't hear Alfred. But no. He decided to heed the call, and sit on the twins' cafeteria table.

Alfred started chattering as soon as Lovino sat down.

"Hey, about what happened last night –"

Lovino tuned out. He didn't want to hear anything about any stupid thing they've done the night before.

"– so, anyway, where's your brother?"

"Oh, him? Probably out gallivanting with that Beilschmidt or something."

Not that Lovino cares. Feliciano can take care of himself, thank you very much.

"Man, that alpaca's scary. Did you see those things he left in our rooms while we slept? He must really be determined to see us kill each other," Alfred continued. He must be talking about the toolboxes on the table with sticky notes attached to them.

At that moment, Beilschmidt entered, with Feliciano and Honda in tow. The German's face was stuck with a grim expression.

"We may have a problem," Beilschmidt announced.

"Hm? And what may that be?" Kirkland asked.

"Herakles won't come out of his room. I pushed the intercom button many times, but he's not coming out."

"Maybe he's not in there?" That was Alfred's brother.

"In that case…What if something happened to him?" the only girl in their group, Erzsébet, said.

Lovino understood what she meant. Everyone did. The air was thick with suspicion and fear.

"We should go look for him. Let's split up and search," Honda suggested.

"Hey! I was about to make that suggestion myself!" Alfred said.

"That's Alfred. Always the hero, even at a time like this," Matthew muttered.

"Ah! I'll go to his room. I'll keep ringing him until he answers," Yong Soo volunteered.

"Well? Are going to search or not? Let's go," Kirkland said impatiently.

* * *

"Ve~ Fratello, where could he be?" Feliciano asked as they were searching around the hallways. "What if someone fell for Alpha's motive and –"

"Quit it, _idiota_! This is no time to think like that!" Lovino shouted. That shut up his brother.

* * *

"So, did you find him?" Alfred asked when they met at the hallway.

"No luck," Lovino sighed.

"Well, there's still one room we haven't searched yet," Matthew contemplated. "And it's certainly where an SHSL Philosopher might spend his time."

The library. That's what Matthew was referring to. All four students ran to the direction of the library, hoping they weren't too late.

* * *

"Well, this is it," Lovino said.

The shadow of the library door loomed over the four students. An ominous aura was seeping out of it. A voice repeatedly whispered the words "Don't open it" in Lovino's head.

Matthew held the doorknob. It felt cold.

He pushed the door open, and the two sets of brothers stepped inside.

There was a rope hanging from the ceiling.

A large hammer from Alphachrome's toolset was swinging at its end.

There was someone on the desk, seemingly asleep.

Herakles.

Someone screamed.

* * *

Ohoho~! I'll just leave this here. *runs with the wind*


	6. Chapter Six: A Wise Old Owl

I'm so sorry for last chapter's cliffhanger. Here, have another round.

**Word Count: **576

* * *

_**Chapter Six: A Wise Old Owl**_

_"A wise old owl lived in an oak_  
_The more he saw the less he spoke_  
_The less he spoke the more he heard._  
_Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?"_

Lovino didn't realise that the scream brought everyone else to the scene.

A gasp.

"Herakles… Is he –" It was Yong Soo.

"No," Matthew cut him off as he examined the hammer. "The hammer didn't have enough force in its swing to kill him. Bruise, yes. Death, most unlikely."

Alfred scratched his head in utter confusion. "Uh, Mattie? English please?"

"He's not dead. Listen, you could even hear him snore," Matthew sighed.

"Ah."

"Mind telling us what this is all about?" Kirkland asked.

"Someone tried to kill Herakles. It didn't work," Matthew remarked, as if it was obvious enough.

"How?" Kirkland pressed on.

"Simple. He used the pendulum principle. The culprit tied the rope to one of beams on the roof, and thus lifted the hammer to a certain height. He then raised the hammer out through the open door. When he released his hold, the hammer reacted by swinging inside. When he closed the French doors, the hammer returned and struck the locks, so it got stuck between them. The only thing left for him was to wait for an unwitting victim to push the doors open. Herakles probably used only a bit of force when opening the doors, so the hammer didn't kill him," Matthew finished his explanation by lightly tapping the Greek on the shoulder, thus proving to everyone that he wasn't dead.

Lovino could really taste the slight condescension in Matthew's statement. Or maybe that was just him. The guy was timid as a mouse. At least according to Alfred.

"Upupu~" Fernandez screeched as Alphachrome appeared out of nowhere. "Matthew Williams is right! As expected of him! Too bad, though. I was wishing there would be a case today," the robotic alpaca continued.

Edelstein pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean, as expected?"

"Oopsie. I think I said too much. Bye!"

The alpaca disappeared again.

Seriously, what is wrong with that thing?

* * *

"I can't believe your brother just spouted out a deduction. It's just like Sherlock Holmes!" Feliciano remarked to Alfred as he was playing around with tonight's pasta.

For some unknown reason, Lovino, Feliciano, and Alfred were given the kitchen duty tonight, with a stern warning from the resident SHSL Chef not to let the overbearing Brit in the kitchen.

Alfred was chopping tomatoes. "Eh, he does that once in a while. I can do that too, you know. Anyway, don't worry about him, he's harmless."

"I still can't believe one of us actually tried to kill," Lovino grumbled as he was setting the plates.

"Yeah. And everyone seemed nice," Alfred sighed.

"I guess this is what they call survival of the fittest."

Just then, von Bock entered, with him was a clearly distressed Erzsébet.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Feliciano asked.

"You should see it for yourself. Let's go," was von Bock's terse reply.

The three of them followed suite, but not before Feliciano turned off the burner.

They didn't expect what they saw.

The entrance hall was covered in someone's blood.

That someone was sprawled lifeless on the floor, shears from Alphachrome's toolset still sticking out of his abdomen.

Im Yong Soo looked tiny in death.

**End Third Day**

** Students Remaining: 15**


	7. Chapter 7: Pop Goes the Weasel

**Word Count: **827

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Pop Goes the Weasel**_

_"Half a pound of tuppenny rice,_  
_Half a pound of treacle._  
_That's the way the money goes,_  
_Pop! Goes the weasel."_

Lovino Vargas sighed. Im Yong Soo was irritating, yes. Horribly cheerful to a degree that could surpass even Feliciano, always claiming stuff, no wonder the others were pissed off at him. More importantly, he could very well be the first victim if ever someone decides to press the start button of this fucking killing game.

And so Lovino was not surprised to find himself walking down the hall with his brother, a very serious SHSL Programmer, Alfred, and a distraught SHSL Photojournalist.

He was not surprised to see the other ten students in the Entrance Hall, some of their voices hushed, barely audible, and some sounding tearful.

He was not surprised at all to find the cold, still corpse of the SHSL Inventor sprawled out on the floor of the Entrance Hall.

Feliciano was the first to react, his hand automatically covering his mouth as he screamed, with the tears beginning to pour out of his widened brown eyes.

Alfred, on the other hand, averted his eyes and refused to look at the corpse altogether.

Lovino divided his time between making his brother stop crying, and glaring at the other students.

_DING-DONG-DING_

_"A body has been discovered! Following a brief period of investigation, we will commence our school trial! Oh, and could you guys go to the gym so I can explain how this goes?"_

The announcement brought everyone back to their senses.

"_Shit!_" Arthur swore as he punched a nearby wall. "I'm going to dismantle that alpaca, or so help me God."

The bell rang again. "Upupu~ I can hear you, you know. Violence against the headmaster is against the rules. Now all of you go to the gym, or you'll all be _punished._"

* * *

Matthew was restraining Alfred as he screamed at the robot standing at the podium. "You _fucking _psycho! What have you done to Yong Soo?"

"I didn't touch him. I'm an honest alpaca! I _never _lie. As long as you all follow the rules, I won't do anything to you," the alpaca sneered.

"So who killed Yong Soo?" Yao asked.

The alpaca laughed. "I'm sure you all know the answer to that. Of course, I wouldn't gather you here if it wasn't one of you who killed him."

Lovino flinched, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been emptied on him.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Alphachrome tilted his head. "You look as if someone just stole your grazing territory. Were you hoping to go for the first kill yourselves?" He laughed. "Haven't I told you from the start? In order to graduate, someone killed Im Yong Soo. The culprit is one of you. He knows it himself.

Lovino studied the other students' faces, intently trying to figure out who did it. He was not surprised to find the others doing the same. The room overflowed with faces full of doubt mixed with fear, confusion, and suspicion.

"So that person can graduate now?" Beilschmidt stared at Alphachrome's eyes, challenging him.

"Eh?"

"Don't act dumb. That's what the rules say, don't they? Someone who kills can graduate."

The alpaca guffawed with amusement.

"What's with the laugh?" Yao asked.

"You're all so naïve. Did you really think graduating would be this easy? Kill a person and get it done with?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, let me explain the graduation rule. It's no good just killing someone. You must hide what you've done from everyone else! So we'll have a jury system to decide who the culprit is. As you all know, I value democracy."

"The school trial will start in a few hours. The evidence you gather will help you decide. During trial, you will get a chance to debate who the hidden killer is among yourselves. The result will be decided by vote, held at the end of the trial session. And then, if the answer you reach is the correct one, the culprit who disrupted public order will be punished, and the rest can go on living in mutual peace. On the other hand, if the wrong person is voted for as the culprit, the real culprit can go on his merry way home, and the rest of you will be punished. If that happens, that will also be the end of our communal lifestyle, of course! Those are the rules of the school trial!"

"By the way, what is this punishment you mention?" Honda asked.

"You know what I mean. Execution!" Alphachrome happily announced. "Zap in the electric chair! Choke in the gas chamber! Maybe I'll tear your body up in a hurricane storm! Isn't it about time you started your investigation? I update your Student IDs with information about the body, seeing as most of you are probably incompetent enough to figure out this information yourselves. Now leave! I need my beauty sleep."


	8. Chapter Eight: Spring Well

I'm sorry this took so long.

Please, heed my advice and never play CKII, it will ruin your life.

I removed a few paragraphs from the previous chapter and replaced it here, since I think it suits this chapter more.

Also, the beginning rhyme is taken from Korea.

Please feed me with a review afterwards, okay?

**Word Count:** 890

* * *

_**Chapter Eight: Little Spring**_

_"In the moonlit night the roe deer,_  
_Hide-and-seek's the game they play._  
_They become thirsty, rush to here;_  
_After a quick drink, they go away."_

Lovino swore as he stared at the Alphachrome File in his Electronic Student ID. "_Damn it! _Why would someone do this? He was just a kid!"

**Alphachrome File 1**

** Victim: Im Yong Soo**  
** The victim died in the Entrance Hall.**  
**The estimated time of death is between 6 to 8 in the evening.**  
**The cause of death is a stab wound to the abdomen, causing the victim to bleed out of a major artery.**  
**The victim shows signs of a struggle.**

Matthew sighed. This wouldn't be easy to decipher.

He turned to his brother. "Did any of you three leave the kitchen before Eduard came?"

"Er, no. Right, Vargas?"

Lovino just nodded.

"The file confirms that he died from the stab wound. We found the murder weapon in the scene, but we can't check for finger prints. The weapon came from Alphachrome's toolset. Everyone received a toolset, right?" Matthew asked.

Erzsébet raised her hand. "Ah, I received a sewing kit instead."

Beilschmidt raised an eyebrow. "So you mean we only have to find out who's missing shears in their tool kit?"

"It seems so, yes. Or someone who's tool set has its seal broken, since it's plausible that he'd steal his victim's." Matthew's glasses had a strange gleam to them. "But first, who found the body?"

"Erzsébet did. I heard her scream as I left the music room. As soon as I got her to calm down, we went to find the others," Edelstein answered for her.

"The best we can do is to separate in groups to find clues," Bonnefoy suggested.

"What about the body? The culprit might return and mess up the crime scene," Kirkland said.

"I'll watch over it," Beilschmidt volunteered.

Zwingli frowned. "I'll help. That way if either of us is the culprit, we won't be able to mess it up with the one watching."

* * *

"Remind me again why I got stuck with you guys again," Lovino complained.

Feliciano beamed at him. "Ve~ It's nice. There's safety in numbers, right?"

"Yeah, Feli's right, it'll be f–nice," Alfred's last minute change of wording was so obvious, it hurt.

Matthew was too deep in thought to comment on it.

"So, where do we go next?" Alfred asked.

"I don't know. Maybe to Yong Soo's Room, try to find clues there?"

* * *

**Despair Hotel**  
**Yong Soo's Room**

"Now what?" Lovino asked.

"Now, we find clues," Matthew answered. He was already rummaging through Yong Soo's closet.

"Seems like he used up a page from his notepad."

"How do you know?"

"He didn't exactly rip out the whole page."

"Eh? The seal on his tool kit is broken?" Feliciano remarked.

Matthew turned to him. "Let me see that."

"There are a few things missing here."

"Which are?" Alfred asked.

"A hammer and a pair of shears," Matthew casually said as he examined the rest of the room.

"No way," Alfred breathed out.

Matthew shrugged. "When there's no other way, it's the truth."

"So, you finished yet, bro?"Alfred asked again.

"Yeah, I'm good. Nothing else to see here."

* * *

"Where to next, captain?" Alfred asked his brother.

Matthew tilted his head up, obviously annoyed at his brother's antics. "The incinerator room, I have to check something."

"Your brother is starting to scare me, Jones," Lovino whispered.

"Don't mind him, he's always like that when something happens. You'll get used to it."

* * *

**Despair Hotel**  
**Incinerator Room**

"So, any of you know who's on garbage duty?" Alfred asked.

"Alphachrome hasn't assigned it yet, so we're free to go in and out as we please," Feliciano said.

Lovino's face was one of surprise. "More importantly, why is the incinerator turned on? The last time I went here, that thing was off."

"Really? How interesting," Matthew smirked.

"There's something burnt near the incinerator. It must've fallen off," Alfred announced as he picked up said thing.

_DING-DONG-DING_

_"I'm getting bored! We should start the show, don't you think? The school trial we've all been waiting for! Well then, please enter the blue door in the first floor of the school area. Upupu~ I'll see you soon!"_

"So that's where he's planning everything to happen. No wonder it was locked all this time. Well, you done yet? I think we should go already," Alfred muttered.

* * *

**School Proper**  
**Blue Trial Room**

"You're late as usual. You've kept everyone waiting," Beilschmidt told them as they entered.

"Yeah, we're sorry, someone got carried away with the investigation," Lovino said while taking a side glance at Matthew.

_DING-DONG-DING_

_"Is everyone here already? If so, then please enter the yellow elevator you see in front of you. It will take you bastards to the courtroom I prepared especially for you, the court that will decide your fate. I'm already there, so don't keep me waiting any longer."_

All fifteen remaining students embarked the elevator, each of them weighed down by the tragedy they just saw a few hours ago.

The elevator descended into the underground arena, shaking along the way.

And as the elevator doors opened, they all knew that a war was about to start. A war between hope and despair, between truth and deception, between life and death.

The class trial has begun.


End file.
